This year’s women in design colloquium was held in the beautiful gallery space of the Design Tasmania Centre, in Launceston. 'Designing for Social Engagement' was the theme for speakers across many design disciplines, including a graphic designer from Victoria – Jane Connory – who spoke about the visibility (and invisibility) of women in the graphic design field, and the postgraduate thesis she is working on towards gender inclusiveness.

Kate summarised the weekend as “a motivational and uplifting weekend that certainly was thought provoking, at times emotional and controversial but always challenging and inspiring”. Kate was particularly impressed with Jane Connory’s discussion on the visibility of women in the history of Australian graphic design and the work she is doing towards gender inclusiveness. As females, we started to question our own position on the subject and visibility within the graphic design industry. Kate says “as women in design, we don’t know ourselves why we are content to stay out of the limelight”.

Carleen summarised the weekend as “full, compelling and insightful”. Another highlight for Carleen was museum professional – Janet Carding – who spoke about the placement and atmosphere in which museums portray their displays. Visitors to museums may not fully engage with all of the pieces on displays. Sometimes this is intentional by design! However to fully engage a variety of audience demographics, it’s important to look at the floor space, the amount of content, and also enabling visitors to participate in kinetic and technical areas. The key here is for visitors to leave a museum with a happy and engaged experience, with the added bonus of some educational content.

In summary, as female graphic designers we were delighted to be absorbed in design across a spectrum of disciplines. Working in a creative industry, I truly believe that inspiration, positivity and support are all crucial elements to a sense of balance and happiness in the workplace environment.